sneakers
Found Retro Kicks
Remember these Nike Air Max Uptempo III kicks? I think Bulls’ Scottie Pippen rocked them back in the day before he had his own signature line. So I was somewhat surprised to see a few pairs albeit in an odd colorway at Ross Dress for Less.
And the best thing is the sizes. There were actually wearable sizes in stock. These in the pic are a size 10 for $60.
March Madness 2012 Kicks Analysis #8: The Champ
Too many Cats – Miller, Jones, Lamb, Kidd-Gilchrist, Teague, and some freakish freshman named Davis.
Congratulations to the Kentucky Wildcats for their victory over the Kansas Jayhawks. This year’s Nike-clad Cats were just too much for the Adidas-striped Jayhawks.
Rolling it back to 1999, the championship kickscape looks like this:
- 1999 Connecticut (Nike)
- 2000 Michigan State (Reebok Answers)
- 2001 Duke (Nike)
- 2002 Maryland (Nike Shox Stunners)
- 2003 Syracuse (Nike Shox)
- 2004 Connecticut (Nike Lebron Zoom Generation and Air Force Operates)
- 2005 North Carolina (Nike Retro Jordan X)
- 2006 Florida (Nike)
- 2007 Florida (Nike)
- 2008 Kansas (Adidas)
- 2009 North Carolina (Nike)
- 2010 Duke (Nike)
- 2011 Connecticut (Nike)
- 2012 Kentucky (Nike)
That’s 12 out of the last 14 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships going to Nike sponsored teams. Not a bad percentage (86%) at all. The most recent Adidas championship belonged to the 2008 Kansas Jayhawks. But the message is clear. If you want an excellent chance of winning your March Madness bracket, be sure to pick a Nike team.
March Madness 2012 Kicks Analysis #7: The Finals
Flip a coin – heads for Nike and Kentucky, tails for Adidas and Kansas.  It’s that simple, a 50-50 toss up.  What started as a significant statistically advantage  for Nike has been completed negated by the play of Team Adidas.  Crazy Light beats crazy odds.
Will it be Rise As One or All In?
March Madness 2012 Kicks Analysis #6: The Final Four
My, oh my, how the odds have been beaten. The 2012 Tournament started with 76% of the teams (49) wearing a swoosh. The three stripes of Adidas were on 19% (12 teams) and Under Armour picking up 3 spots.
The Sweet 16 began the trend towards parity, going to 9 Nike teams to 7 Adidas teams. The Elite 8 halved the Sweet 16 teams and somewhat halved the shoe representation going from 9 to 5 Nike teams and 7 to 3 Adidas teams.
The Final Four is all tied up, two to two. Ohio State and Kentucky for Nike and Kansas and Louisville for Adidas. Both brands are even steven at 50%.
March Madness 2012 Kicks Analysis #5: Elite 8
The 2012 Sweet 16 stood with 9 Nike and 7 Adidas teams. As half have fallen, the Elite 8 stands at 5 Nike and 3 Adidas teams. They are:
- Syracuse (Nike)
- Ohio St. (Nike)
- North Carolina (Nike)
- Kansas (Adidas)
- Kentucky (Nike)
- Baylor (Adidas)
- Louisville (Adidas)
- Florida (Nike)
Last year, the 2011 field of 8 stood 7 strong with Nike and one sole Adidas. In ’08, it was a 4-all tie, and in ’07, Nike had a slight nod, 5-3 over Adidas.
March Madness 2012 Kicks Analysis #4: Shoes of Champions
Adidas is All In by outfitting teams with the adiZero Crazy Light shoes. The most noticeable colorway being Baylor’s neon Electricity. Although Nike says Rise As One, they have a variety of team shoes on display during the Madness of March. Jordans remain popular and can be seen on any team, but Nike is pushing the LeBron 9 and the Zoom Hyperenforcer.
In either case, I’m not liking both. The Zoom Hyperenforcer looks “run of the mill” without anything really standing out with its design. While the Crazy Light may be crazy light, it has an appearance of an ankle brace. I still say Nike missed an opportunity with the Zoom Rookie.
March Madness 2012 Kicks Analysis #3: Sweet 16
Historically, Kicks Analysis #3 is reserved for the breakdown of teams and the first 48 victories of March Madness. But really, I don’t know what this stat showed other than a continuation of the distribution of the overall shoe sponsorship. So I’m gonna scrap this one and move on to the shoes worn by the teams who made it to the Sweet Sixteen.
Amazingly, with Nike starting the tournament with a 49 to 12 ratio compared to Adidas wearing teams, the Sweet Sixteen has 7 teams wearing Adidas and 9 teams wearing Nike. From a 76% Nike, 19% Adidas start, it’s now a 56% for Nike’s Rise as One and 44% Adidas’ All In (no representation by Under Armour).
No Neon Electricity for Baylor
Baylor has been undefeated in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament while wearing their neon “Electricity” uniforms and matching adidas adiZero Crazy Light 2. But in their matchup with Kentucky today, they’ll have to wear their black unis to better contrast the Wildcats jersey colors. Not sure if neon electricity looks similar to Kentucky’s blue and white, but I guess both color schemes are on the lighter spectrum.
Gotta give props to Baylor for such a striking (and outlandish) colors scheme. Seems like a trend in the post season and special events (like the NBA All Star game) to go bright and bold with the color choices.
March Madness 2012 Kicks Analysis #2b: Regional Sponsorships
Another arbitrary look at the shoe sponsorships of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament 2012. This view is by the Regions (South, West, East, and Midwest).
What can you ascertain from this analysis? Probably nothing but getting this breakdown using Excel’s Pivot Tables is easy. 🙂
March Madness 2012 Kicks Analysis #2a: Seed Sponsorships
Here’s a quick look at the shoe sponsorships for this year’s Tournament seeding.
Nike has the top seeds of each regional locked up. Of no significance but interestingly enough, Adidas provides the footwear for Indiana, Louisville, Michigan, and Wisconsin, all the #4 seeds.
March Madness 2012 Kicks Analysis #2: Conference Sponsorships
The selection of teams from the various NCAA conferences has a typical feel year to year. Â The Big East has its share of teams (9) and represents all three sneaker sponsorships in the tournament (Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour). Â The “biggest” gainer seems to be the West Coast Conference, up from one team in 2011 to three in 2012 (BYU, Gonzaga, and Saint Mary’s).
